Fortnum & Mason’s carefully cultivated image – of a shop steeped in English tradition – took a major knock yesterday, thanks to a wave of PETA supporters who paid the store a surprise St George’s Day visit! Whether handing out fliers or posing almost naked and bodypainted with St George’s flags, activists were determined to remind the company and its customer that the sale of foie gras is positively un-English.

Foie gras is made from the diseased and grossly enlarged livers of force-fed geese. Production of the French foodstuff is so inhumane that it’s illegal in the UK, and a majority of British people want to see an outright ban on selling it. So Fortnum & Mason’s attempt to celebrate Englishness by holding a traditional St George’s Day feast, while still profiting from gross animal abuse, really stuck in our throats!

In addition to the action in London, online hundreds of people got busy tweeting and e-mailing managing director, Ewan Venters, to express their disgust at his blatant disregard for animal welfare.

Hail to the pretty sign holders….. They get attention!!
the henious treatment of fowl for the greedy consumers of foie gras needs to stop.and stop now. Sellers need to be negatively advertized as shown in this posting and fined for their cruelty to animals. Its greed and its wrong,!

It’s no joy or pleasure eating foie gras knowing the sinister method employed in producing it – namely the cruel and abhorrent way of force-feeding helpless and unfortunate geese so as to enlarge their livers to almost bursting! If you thought your reputation and success depended on being able to offer customers foie gras at your store, you’ve unfortunately ruined your good image and itegrity!

All animals, even if raised for food, should be treated with a degee of dignity and humanity, and slaughtered in the same way. You should really be ASHAMED of yourselves, Fortnum & Masons! Listen to all the protests at your supporting such cruel and unacceptable acts of barbarity on foie gras geese! I, for one, would NEVER wish to set foot in your store again!

Well done to all the protesters and supporters who dedicate themselves to such a good and worthy cause,fighting for the rights of all the defenceless and innocent on our planet, the animals, who have just as much right to be here as anyone else and dont deserve this painful life of suffering at the hands of the evil and sadistic people who torture and murder for pleasure and profits..its obscene and its a sin!

When I called F&M about a gift of their marmalade with edible gold leaf in it, which I was rather dubious about, I also asked why they persist in selling foie gras but the staffer refused to discuss this at all and ended the call.

An earlier Peta campaign gave us tel nos for F&M’s CEO’s office. The PA then gave me their PR agent’s tel no and I finished up getting nowhere, as he naturally defended their sales policy on foie gras !

May I suggest people can boycott restaurants serving foie gras on their menus.

i believe fully in what you are doing but to have half naked women holding banners was not necessary,a woman or man covered in blood whether naked or dressed would have been more appropriate. Glad you got the message across but i believe you are using too many sexy imagines for your campaigns although i understand why- SEX sells.

Would anyone at Fortnum & Mason’s Like to have a metal pipe rammed down their throat three times a day…No I Don’t Think So!!! so why is it right to do this to any living creature. Its barbaric, the pain and suffering that these animals have to go through…Just to Please people with more money than sense!!……. The public has to demand that this company stops selling foie gras, and managing director, Ewan Venters , needs to listen to public opinion.
I Choose to speak for those who have no voice. And i will do so until this is stopped

The humans just use and abuse everything else on the planet, what is the matter with them, all the talk of being civilised is nonsense. They’ve tried everything, even religion to help them sort their heads out but nothing works for them. Zoos are just animal museums where children can be shown what their ancestors used to share their world with.

It really is time for decent and caring people to be listened to regarding animal cruelty. I admire the girls for having the guts to stand up and be seen for what they believe in. Its about time the government got on side and started to treat retailers as criminals along with the perpetrator’s of these hideous and disgusting products.

It’s time to leave another outdated cruel tradition behind and demonstrate that humanity’s evolution is progressing with increased compassion and awareness of our tiny part in the wholeness of life. It’s cruel, it’s unnecessary, it’s time to outlaw it once and for all.

The actor Terence Stamp is often connected with Fortnum and Mason. Apparently it’s one of his favourite places for tea. If he were to boycott the store because of its policy of stocking ‘torture in a tin’, it would make a huge story. Come on Mr Stamp, reject Fortnum’s like the rest of us!

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